Immigration Operation in Sydney Locates 61 People
Media Release - DPS 61/2003
Immigration officers have located sixty-one illegal non-citizens and illegal workers in two days of operations across Sydney, the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) confirmed today.
The operations encompassed the Sutherland Shire, Sydney CBD, the Eastern Suburbs and western Sydney. Fifty of those located were unlawful non-citizens, that is, people who had overstayed their visas, and eleven people had their visas cancelled because they were working in breach of their visa conditions.
Those located were from the following countries - thirteen from Indonesia, ten from the People's Republic of China, seven from the Philippines, six from Syria and six from Fiji. There were also four from Thailand, three from Malaysia, three from South Korea, two from Colombia and one each from Liberia, Pakistan, the UK, Mongolia, France, Sudan and India.
Immigration officers visited a number of restaurants in the Sutherland Shire, two building sites in Randwick, two brothels in the Fairfield area, and a number of residences in the Kogarah, Bankstown and Dulwich Hill areas.
Five women were located in brothels as a result of this operation. When this occurs, the women are questioned as part of a structured interview about whether they have been trafficked to Australia. If any indication of people trafficking emerges, DIMIA officers are required to refer the case to the AFP. No allegations of trafficking were made in this instance.
Thirty-two of the people located have been detained at the Villawood Detention Centre while arrangements are made for their removal from Australia. The twenty-nine remaining individuals were granted bridging visas.
In the 2002-03 financial year to 31 May the Department located 19,070 people who had either overstayed or breached their visa conditions - an increase of 10 per cent over the 2001-02 financial year when the Department located 17,307 overstayers and people breaching visa conditions around Australia.
12 September 2003